rhymes

Introduction of the Rhyme:

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
How I wonder what you are.

I sang it once through and then had everyone sing with it me.

Action Rhyme:
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (Flash fingers open and close)
How I wonder what you are! (Hand on forehead, looking up)
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky. (Make a diamond with your fingers)
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. (Flash fingers open and close)
How I wonder what you are. (Hand on forehead, looking up)
Source: Hang Loose, Mother Goose

Book: I Am A Starby Jean Marzollo

I only read a few pages here and there of this book. It was great introduction to my science portion of this section.

Song: I printed off three different pictures of actual stars, and I briefly talked about how blue was the hottest star while red was the coldest.

Source: I found something very similar on pinterest and unfortunately did not save the link.

My second rhyme was Jack and Jill. I wanted to do something different and decided to take a “safety” approach to this rhyme.

Introduction of the Rhyme: Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Action Rhyme:
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. (Make climbing motions)
Jack fell down and broke his crown, (Fall to the floor)
And Jill came tumbling after. (roll hands)
Source: Mother Goose on the Loose.

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. (Make climbing motions)
Jack fell down(Hit right thigh with right hand)
and broke his crown, (Hit left thigh with left hand)
And Jill came tumbling after. (Roll hands)
Source: Mother Goose on the Loose.

Put a Bandage on My Knee
Tune: Farmer in the Dell

Put a bandage on my knee,
Put a bandage on my knee
Oh please take care of me
Put bandage on my knee.

I had a volunteer make me some flannels, but I decided to use real band-aids instead for this song.

Activity: Safe Vs Not Safe

I thought this would be fairly simply activity board to create. Surprisingly, I had to dig around to find some pictures that illustrated safe and not safe activities for kids. Good ole Arthur came through for me.

I would hold up the picture and ask the kids if the activity was safe or not safe.

I busted out the parachute and some puppets for this activity. We threw the puppets on the parachute, and the kids had to keep the puppets on the parachute. The final 30 seconds the goal was to get the puppets off parachute. The kids LOVED this activity.

I’ve been failing at keeping up with my Rhyming to Read program, so there will be some backtracking. Our November Rhyming to Read focused on the Soft Kitty and Dickery Dickery Dare. I have noticed that when you go off the traditional nursery rhymes you have a harder time finding activities to with the kids. I try to make do with what I can.

I had to do Soft Kitty for our November Rhyming to Read! I got some good laughs from parents/guardians who are Big Bang Theory fans, and it was not a difficult rhyme to teach. This was my layout:

I sang it once through and then had everyone sing with it me. We sang it 3x through.
I then had the kids imagine they were holding a cat and sing the rhyme to their kitties.

Action Rhyme:Can You Meow Like Me
Meow very loudly.
Meow like a giant cat.
Meow in a squeaky voice.
Meow like a scared cat.
Meow like a happy cat.
Meow like a sad cat.
Meow like an angry cat.
Meow in a whisper.

Fingerplay:
We counted each finger as a kitten and then sang this rhyme 2x through.

Five Little Kittens
Five little standing in a row,
(Hold up five fingers.)
They nod their heads to the children so.
(Bend fingers)
They run to the left; they run to the right.
(Run fingers to the left and then to the right.)
They stand up and stretch in the bright sunlight.
(Stretch fingers out tall.)
Along comes a dog who’s in for some fun.
(Hold up one finger from opposite hand.)
ME-OW! See those little kittens run!
(Let fingers run.)

We then hid our hands behind our heads, backs and tushies.

Book: Kittens Grow Up to be Cats by Cecilia Minden

Dance Song: Copycat Me by The Learning Station

Craft:

We then switched gears to Dickery Dickery Dare.

Introduction of the Rhyme: Dickery, Dickery Dare,
Dickery, Dickery Dare,
The pig flew up in the air;
The man in brown
Soon brought him down,
Dickery, dickery, dare.

We sang through it 3x through.

Book: Piggies by Audrey Wood

Action Rhyme:
Dickery, Dickery Dare,
(crouch down low and start to bounce)
The pig flew up in the air;
(jump up in the air)
The man in brown
Soon brought him down,
(start to crouch again)
Dickery, dickery, dare.

I gave the kids a pig on a stick and they were able to fly their pigs into the air. The kids loved jumping in the air with their pigs.

Opening Song

We clap and sing hello,
We clap and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We clap and sing hello!

We wave and sing hello,
We wave and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We wave and sing hello!

We stomp and sing hello,
We stomp and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We stomp and sing hello!

Traditional Nursery Rhyme

Humpty Dumpty

Nursery Rhyme with Body Movement

This Little Piggy

This little piggy went to the market. (shake one arm)
This little piggy stayed home. (shake other arm)
This little piggy had roast beef. (shake one leg)
This little piggy had none. (shake other leg)
And this little piggy ran wee, wee, wee,
all the way home. (tickle belly)

The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.
(baby on tummy, walk/tickle up baby’s back)

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
(slide fingers down baby’s back from head to toes)

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
(rub baby’s back)

And the itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.
(baby on tummy, walk/tickle fingers up baby’s back)

Pumpkin Bounce

Here’s a little pumpkin bouncing on the vine (bounce baby gently)
Roll it left (sway to one side)
And roll it right (sway to the other side).
And bounce it down the line. (bounce)

Repeat with larger movements
Here’s a medium pumpkin bouncing on the vine….
Here’s a great big pumpkin bouncing on a vine…
Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Opening Song

Rhymes

The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.
(baby on tummy, walk/tickle up baby’s back)

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
(slide fingers down baby’s back from head to toes)

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
(rub baby’s back)

And the itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.
(baby on tummy, walk/tickle fingers up baby’s back)

Eat Mr. Pumpkin

Mr. Pumpkin, Mr. Pumpkin
Big and fat, big and fat (make a circle with your arms around baby)
I am gonna eat you, I am gonna eat you (tickle baby’s belly)
Just like that, just like that!
Source: I found this rhyme on Perfectly Preschool. I just made my own actions to fit my baby storytime.

The moon is round, (draw a semicircle on one side of the baby’s face)
The moon is round. (draw a semicircle on the other side of baby’s face)
It has two eyes, (gently touch baby’s eyelids)
A nose, (gently touch baby’s nose)
But knows no sound. (press finger baby’s lips)
Source:Baby Storytime Magic by Kathy MacMillan & Christine Kirker

Book

Pumpkin Faces by Judith Moffatt

Sensory Time

We actually took mini aluminum baking pans and let the babies bang on them. We quickly discovered that the babies were more interested in tasting them than playing with them. However, if I lightly tapped on the pans, the babies would stop and listen to me.

Fun Rhyme With Fact

Where is Baby?
Tune: Frere Jacques

Where is baby, where is baby?
There she is, there she is
I am glad to see you, I am glad to see you
Peekaboo! I see you! (cover and uncover eyes)
Source:Perry Public Library

Fact: Peekaboo starts teaching babies that their parents might go out of sight but they will return.

Closing Goodbye Song

We Wave Goodbye Like This
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Playtime

Observations

My babies all came in costumes and were super adorable. I think we spent a good five minutes admiring each baby’s costume. Two of my older babies actually laughed at each other.

I was really hoping that there would be more Halloween-ish rhymes for babies, but I ended up improvising. It worked out well. I made sure to include rhymes that bounced babies, but included more gentle rhymes for my younger babies.

Opening Song

Rhymes

Oh, do you know the Muffin Man,
The Muffin Man, the Muffin Man?
Oh, do you know the Muffin Man,
Who lives on Drury Lane?

Oh, yes, I know the Muffin Man,
The Muffin Man, the Muffin Man.
Oh, yes, I know the Muffin Man,
He lives on Drury Lane.

A-Bouncing We Will Go

A-bouncing we will go,
A-bouncing we will go,
Hi-ho the derry-o,
A-bouncing we will go.

A-tickling we will go…
A-kissing we will go…
Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Bouncing Song

Bounce and bounce and bounce and stop.
Bounce and bounce and bounce and stop.
Bounce and bounce and bounce and stop.
Now bounce that baby right to the top! (lift baby up)

Repeat slowly and then quickly.
Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Book

You’re Tutu Cute! by Sandra Magsamen

Sensory Time

Painting! I discovered this awesome project for babies on Read, Sing, Play blog. I simply took a sandwich bag, a small cardboard paper, three dollops of paint (red, blue, and white), and duct tape to create mini projects for each baby. Each baby was able to mash their own creations

Here are just a few of their creations!

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Fun Rhyme With Fact

This Little Piggy

This Little Piggy Went to the Market. (shake one arm)
This Little Piggy Stayed Home. (shake the other arm)
This little Piggy had roast beef. (shake one leg)
And this little piggy had none. (shake the other leg)
And this little Piggy ran wee, wee, wee, (tickle belly)
All the way home.

The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.
(baby on tummy, walk/tickle up baby’s back)

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
(slide fingers down baby’s back from head to toes)

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
(rub baby’s back)

And the itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.
(baby on tummy, walk/tickle fingers up baby’s back)

Book Bounding

Ten Tiny Tickles by Karen Katz

This is essentially my closing of storytime. I read the story and the parents/guardians give their babies the designated number of kisses.

Playtime

Observations

I really enjoyed this session. It was fun to notice when the babies liked a certain rhyme, and the parents are always wonderful in giving feedback. When I told a mom that we were doing the Itsy-Bitsy Spider again, she squealed with excitement. I got to witness firsthand how much her baby loves this tickle rhyme.

Rhymes

I went to the picnic and what did I see?
A little ear of corn smiling at me!
I slathered it with butter(rub hands over baby’s tummy)
And rubbed my tum, (rub own tummy)
Sprinkled it with salt and pepper on, (mime sprinkling salt and pepper on baby)
Then yum, yum, yum! (pretend to eat baby’s tummy)
Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Book

My Pumpkin by Victoria Karr

Sensory Time

Where’s the scarf. I placed several scarfs in the cardboard tubes. Parents/guardians then would pull the scarf through the tubes.

Source: Gymboree Baby Play

Fun Rhyme With Fact

Pumpkin Bounce

Here’s a little pumpkin bouncing on the vine (bounce baby gently)
Roll it left (sway to one side)
And roll it right (sway to the other side).
And bounce it down the line. (bounce)

Repeat with larger movements
Here’s a medium pumpkin bouncing on the vine….
Here’s a great big pumpkin bouncing on a vine….

Fact:Having your voice and movements reflect the different sizes in the rhyme helps babies begin to understand different concepts.

Book Bounding

Ten Tiny Tickles by Karen Katz

This is essentially my closing of storytime. I read the story and the parents/guardians give their babies the designated number of kisses.

Playtime

Observations

This was fun session even if the weather was crappy. The bounce rhymes went really well. However, the real winner was the cardboard tubes. The parents/guardians played with them for a good solid fives minutes and some even started to improvise their games with the scarfs. Don’t expect to get the tubes back, as many babies ended up putting them in their mouths.

Book

Flannel Board

One little bubble floating in my bath
One little bubble floating in my bath.
And if one more bubble should come to play like that .
There’ll be two more bubble floating my bath.

Two little bubbles..
Three little bubbles…
Four little bubbles…
Five little bubbles…

And then …the bubbles pop! (clap five times, removing a bubble each time)
No more bubbles!
Source: Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Sensory Time

Parents blew bubbles for their babies.

Fun Rhyme With Fact

“Bubbles”

Bubbles falling all around
Bubbles falling to the ground.
On your head, on your ear,
On your tummy, on your rear.
Bubbles falling on your toes.
Bubbles falling on your nose!

Fact: Singing songs and rhymes about body parts help children to start identifying their own body parts.

Book Bounding

This is essentially my closing of storytime. I read the story and the parents/guardians give their babies the designated number of kisses.

Playtime

Observations

Unfortunately, I was unable to do this storytime. I came down with bronchitis and my co-worker took over this session for me.

She did mention that the flannel did not work the best in this setting. I thought it was worth a try. However, she is willing to give it a try in the walkers program to see if it gets a better response.

Opening Song

If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!

Props

I put several different animals into these two boxes. I then pulled each animal out of the box and we talked about what noises they made.

Books

Peek-A-Zoo by Marie Torres CimarustiZoo Animals by Pop and Play

Action Rhymes

Let’s Hear You Roar Like a Lion

Let’s hear you roar like a lion!
Let’s see you jump like a frog.
Let’s see you snap your jaws like a crocodile.
Let’s hear you woof like a dog.
Pretend you’re an elephant with a big, long trunk.
Pretend you’re a monkey; let’s see you jump, jump, jump.
And now you’re a mouse. Just let me see
How very, very quiet you can be.
Source:So Tomorrow

Elephant

An elephant goes like this and that,
He’s terribly big,
And he’s terribly fat,
And he has no toes,
But goodness gracious, what a nose!
Source:Storytime Source Page

The Elephant Hokey Pokey

You put your elephant ears in.
You put your elephant ears out.
You put your elephant ears in,
And you shake them all about.
You do the elephant pokey,
and you stomp yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

I know a giraffe
With a neck that’s so high
She stretches and stretches it
Up to the sky (stretch head high or raise arms above head)
She lives on the plains
With her family, too
But you might see her
When you visit the zoo.(Point to others)
Source: Preschool Education

Flannel Board

Five Elephants in a Bathtub

One elephant in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, Knock, (Clap twice)
Splash, Splash, (Slap knees twice)
Come on in! (Motion with both hands to come in.)
Two elephants elephants in the bathtub… etc.
(Until…)
Five elephants elephants in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, Knock,
Splash, Splash,
They all fell in!
Source: Storytime Katie

Take Home Craft

Closing Dance Song

Closing Goodbye Song

We Wave Goodbye Like This
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Observations

I do not believe you can go wrong with a zoo storytime. The kids really enjoyed themselves, and I even had two of them try to break into my preschool storytime! One had to be carried out by his mother because he refused to leave.

This is also a great storytime to introduce younger children to new animals. I had one mom tell me that her daughter wanted books about bears and pandas after we talked a little bit about each one.

The books were very age-appropriate for this session. We all guessed the animals in Peek-a-Zoo and the kids demanded to count the teeth and bugs in Zoo Animals.

The flannel board was very fun. By the second elephant, the parents were helping me sing the tune. They were all surprised when I knocked down the elephants.

My only advice for this storytime is to have water! I got very thirsty and had trouble saying some of the action rhymes by the end.

Opening Song

If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!

Props

I put several different animals into these two boxes. I then pulled each animal out of the box and we talked about what noises they made.

Books

The Giraffe who Cock-A-Doodle-Doo’d by Keith FaulknerThe Underpants Zoo by Brian Sendelbach

Action Rhymes

Let’s Hear You Roar Like a Lion

Let’s hear you roar like a lion!
Let’s see you jump like a frog.
Let’s see you snap your jaws like a crocodile.
Let’s hear you woof like a dog.
Pretend you’re an elephant with a big, long trunk.
Pretend you’re a monkey; let’s see you jump, jump, jump.
And now you’re a mouse. Just let me see
How very, very quiet you can be.
Source:So Tomorrow

You put your elephant ears in.
You put your elephant ears out.
You put your elephant ears in,
And you shake them all about.
You do the elephant pokey,
and you stomp yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

The monkeys in the zoo turn round and round,
Round and round,
Round and round.
The monkeys in the zoo turn round and round,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo all touch their toes,
touch their toes,
touch their toes.
The monkeys in the zoo all touch their toes,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo all rub their tummies,
Rub their tummies,
Rub their tummies.
The monkeys in the zoo all rub their tummies,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo all pat their heads,
Pat their heads,
Pat their heads.
The monkeys in the zoo all pat their heads,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo jump up and down,
Up and down,
Up and down.
The monkeys in the zoo jump up and down,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo swing through the trees,
Through the trees,
Through the trees.
The monkeys in the zoo swing through the trees,
Just like I do.
source:Storytime Hooligans

Flannel Board

Five Elephants in a Bathtub

One elephant in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, Knock, (Clap twice)
Splash, Splash, (Slap knees twice)
Come on in! (Motion with both hands to come in.)
Two elephants elephants in the bathtub… etc.
(Until…)
Five elephants elephants in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, Knock,
Splash, Splash,
They all fell in!
Source: Storytime Katie

Take Home Craft

Closing Dance Song

Closing Goodbye Song

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Observations

This storytime was so much fun! I kicked off the storytime by putting on my zoo hat and opening each box. The kids and I then discussed each animal I pulled out.

The books get an A+ for this storytime. The Giraffe who Cock-A-Doodle-Doo’d had the kids making the appropriate noises for each animal. I even had a little girl who stood up and turned my page because she wanted to know what was going to happen next. The Underpants Zoo had the kids laughing.

I definitely went heavy on the action rhymes. How could I not? And the kids loved them. We were all sweaty and out of breath by the end. I did change my closing song, but I thought “See you later Alligator” was a better fit for this storytime.

The funniest part happened after storytime. I knew that I would be moving around quite a bit, so I made sure to bring in my water. I kept joking that this elephant was thirsty as I guzzled down water. During a playtime a mother gently tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out a little boy. The little boy (a sibling of a preschooler) was wearing my zoo hat and drinking my water!